I am starting to scope out this project. I am OK mechanically, but I need to build up some confidence in what I am doing before I start pulling expensive stuff apart. I haven't ordered the relief valve yet. I am trying to visualize the process first with the help of Gus' great instructions...

http://jagrepair.com/HydPressureReliefValve.htm

First issue... when I tried to remove the "side cover" for access to the pump, it is hard to get it to release where it contacts the right rear light. I didn't force it. I could bend the "side cover" back so I could see the pump, but I did not remove the "side cover" because of this issue. Is there something I am missing here? Should I just force it?

I have a CD player and GPS so it looks pretty tight.

Thanks,

Jack

 

Do you have the battery cover and the front panel removed already? They should be removed first.

 

Yes, I removed them first. But the "side cover" doesn't come off easily near the right rear light.

Jack

 

Remove the rear light cover, two cap nuts, that will release the cover's back end.
Slightly seperate the right side of the front boot cover (gas tank). And as suggested above, remove the battery cover.
You'll hae to bend the top of the cover down to clear the lip. Don't worry it's tough material.
If your model year has a internal latch release (yellow plastic tab), be careful on re-assembly to keep it attached and outside of the pump cover.

 

"Don't worry it's tough material." BobF

Just pull it out.

 

Just installed this on mine Friday. You should get along fine with the right tools. I down loaded the intructions on a Dell notebook and had it in the trunk for referance. The one thing I ran into an my car is that on top of the Cd changer and navigation sets an amplifier which sets the hyd pump up another 3-4 inches and makes things very tight to work on. If you don't have the amp it will be much easier access. As stated above I did have to remove the light cover. Good luck!!

 

The cover just pulls out--it just might take a little more pulling than you would think but it is tough material and will not be damaged. I have pulled and reinstalled this cover a bunch of times and it still fits back in as good as new.

What put me off the first time I tried installing the valve was the fact that Gus' instructions showed the low-rise rack and my car (and many or most others) have the high-rise rack with an extra tier. The puts the pump pretty high up and you have to be pretty patient wiggling and cajoling it off the rack. You have to work it as far forward as you can and then sort of roll it off the rack--don't worry it will eventually come out so that you can make the valve attachments.

Also, the reference to unplugging the blue and orange electrical attachments on the top of the pump may not apply. In the later models these wires run to the rear (towards the tail lights) and there is a connector there that you can undo. This makes it MUCH easier and eliminates the need to deal with the electrical connectors on the top of the pump.


Let us know how it goes or if you need any additional tips.


Doug

 

Thanks to you all. I will keep you posted.

Jack

 

I just bought my 2001 XK8 and the Jaguar Dealer sugested that I change the hydraulic fluid for the converible top. The top works fine. I bought the hydraulic fluid, but should I really change it? Why not wait till it stops working? It probably has never been changed. Ron

 

See your other post on this subject.

 

Just finished installing a relief valve on my 2000 XK8. The mounting frame is 6" taller than what you see in the otherwise exellent tutorial. I have the yellow plug which saves the solenoid mismatch problem. The hardest part of the whole job was disconnecting the black/white pump power plug. Once the plug is disconnected and the mount screws out, move the pump forward and it will then have sufficient room to be brought into the luggage area where you will have room to work. I followed the tutorial with th following exceptions: I did the #2 hose first then attached the relief valve. I loosely ty wrapped the valve to the motor at this time to keep it from dangling. Before removing the plug where the #1 hose goes, check to see if you will need to reposition the latch hose elbow. Mine was interfering by a matter of thousands. I used a dremel to grind off the high point of the fitting nut. Once the installation and leak test as complete, I slid a thin piece of rubber between the motor and the valve and tightened the ty wrap. It made me feel better to have that cushion between the moor and the valve. Good luck

T

 

Good to know that your install was successful. It seems that every time the valve is installed we manage to find another something that was missed or could be changed from the first time. Thanks for your input.

 

Was there something you needed to press to release the plug, or did you just pull it apart.

The reason I ask is - I was scoping out the job the other day (haven't received the device yet, backordered) and tried to pull it apart. Wouldn't budge. I couldn't see what to press to get it to come apart. I left it alone before I broke something. Ran the top down and back up just to be sure I had not disconnected anything.

Jack

 

Nothing to press or unclip. It is just a friction fit that you have to keep working at to finally pull apart. Once apart, I coated one of the plastic fittings with silicon grease to make it a bit easier to tug apart next time.


Doug

 

Thanks, I was really pulling on it to the point that I was concerned about breaking it. I guess I need to pull harder.

Jack

 

The main problems with that black-and-white fitting are that there is nothing really to grab on to to get a good grip compounded by the fact that there is not much room to work. Just keep applying pulling pressure as well as trying to jiggle the pieces apart. Or try to grab each piece with a pliers or something (as gently as possible).


Doug

 

As tough as it was to get apart, I'm sure glad the B & W plug was there. I can only imagine how hard it would be to get to the plugs on top of the pump when you have the CD, Nav, and Audio Amp stack to contend with.

I also used a thin piece of rubber between the valve and pump like tcap1047. And thanks again to Gus for the great pictures.

 

I was grimacing trying to figure out how I would get to the connectors on top of the pump that you are talking about. Fortunately, in the later model cars, the wires from those solenoids run towards the rear of the equipment rack to another connector that is easy to get to. You will need to disconnect that connector (pretty easy) so that you could slide the pump forward and off the rack.


Doug

 

Once you disconect the solenoid plug, clip the ty wraps holding that harness to the power plug wires. That supplied enough slack to slide the pump unit forward and the out into the luggage compartment. You may have a choice now. With the extra room available, you should be able to undo the power plug. Or, I didn't try to do this but, it looked like there was enough slack in the wires to turn the pump on the inboard side and remove the brass plug and proceed from there. It certainly is easier to do with the power plug disconnected, but I think itcan be done.
One last thing, remember to close the pressure equalizing valve and you won't waste a good cussing when you try to drop the top for the leak test.

TCAP

 

As jaguar put these cars together they managed to change little things each year. On my 99 you must remove the battery cover, the tire cover and the back cover over the tank in order to remove the cover for the pump/cd. This process I understand if a little different in MY after mine, so as you go into this process make sure that everyone is talking about the same MY. This is one of the reasons why I did not mention my process in its entirety. If you need help keep asking the questions we all want to help.